


Where He Belongs

by katieluvanime



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, F/M, Journey To The Undying Lands, M/M, Mild Spoilers, Multi, Sad Memories, bagginshield, happy reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-07
Updated: 2015-01-07
Packaged: 2018-03-06 13:57:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3136916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katieluvanime/pseuds/katieluvanime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The old hobbit's mind drifted, as it tended to do so often these days.  Tales of trolls and orcs, eagles and bears, poisoned woods and a town on a lake lit by dragon fire passed through quickly enough before finally settling to where it always did in the end.  To the lone, solitary peak and buried in it's depths the dwarf who had forever held his heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where He Belongs

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a simple story that I had to write after seeing BOFTA. It's close to my heart and I hope you enjoy it as well.

The sea was quiet as their craft sailed the grey waters to the Undying Lands; calming in its serenity but left too much time for thoughts to plague an old hobbits mind.  Bilbo blinked heavily as he leaned on his cane, watching but not seeing the waves ripple by.  His mind was elsewhere, his thoughts drifting to the days of his youth.  Tales of trolls and orcs, eagles and bears, poisoned woods and a town on a lake lit by dragon fire passed through quickly enough before finally settling to where it always did in the end.  No matter what crossed his mind now a days, no matter how many conversations had or stories told, his mind always settled on that one place that to this day held his heart.  He never got it back in the end, not really; it was held in the hand of a dwarf long buried in stone in the heart of one lonely solitary peak.

Bilbo shook his head quickly, trying to clear the troubles clouding his mind.  It wouldn’t do to have Frodo see him like this again.  The poor lad had already been through enough in his young life; he didn’t need to worry about his silly uncle on top of it.  That wouldn’t stop the dear boy though.  He would worry no matter what…they all seemed to worry about him now.  Age had caught up to him quickly now that his ring was gone and by the aches in his bones and his chest he knew it would be coming soon.  He would never see the Undying Lands with his own eyes.  He did not want to.  It was too cruel a trick to have to live a life without his heart.

“Tauriel?  How long have you been standing there?” Bilbo asked quietly as he glanced up, his brows furrowed.  The lovely red headed elf smiled her gentle smile as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Not long,” she replied, her voice light and catching the breeze as it passed.  She turned him away from the sea, her touch unhurried. 

“Come inside my friend and sit a spell.  You are weary and I do not like how pale you are getting.”

Bilbo shook his head, his white curls bouncing lightly across his shoulders.  He had liked it long…something about the way his curls danced in the firelight…

“Bilbo?  What is wrong?”

He jumped slightly as the words interrupted his thoughts.  A smile touched his mouth at her concern and he gave the hand on his shoulder a pat.

“Oh my dear please forgive this old hobbit.  My thoughts seem to be running away from me these days.”

He did not need to look at her to see her eyes dim.  The clench of her pale slender fingers in his gave him every clue to the line of her thinking…straight to that solitary peak and to the heart she had left behind as well.  He felt a shudder run down her figure as she pushed him forward to the doors leading below deck.

“Let’s get you inside Bilbo.  You need to be well rested when we reach the shore.”

“Rest…you know, I think I might be finally able to do so after all of this time…”

He shuffled towards the doors while leaning heavily on his cane for support.  Tauriel watched him leave quietly as a tear slipped gently down her cheek.  She hastily wiped it away as she jerked her gaze away from his retreating back.  So many she had lost in her long life…so many she loved and one most of all.  And now, after so long, she would lose another to a place where she could not follow.  Not now, not as she was.  Her eyes trailed along the waves crashing against the hull as her thoughts drifted to a dwarf with laughing eyes and a smile that lit the darkness.

 

The hall was dark, only lit with torches here and there.  Everywhere he turned there were great statues of dwarfs towering over him, their axes and swords brandished high.  He ran quickly along the winding hall, the stone hard and cold against his feet.  He shivered slightly and clutched his waistcoat tighter across his now young body.  His sun-kissed curls danced across his forehead, blocking his eyesight at every movement.  He brushed them back roughly, longing for the braids that had once pulled his hair from his face. 

“These damn curls…I should just cut them off again!” he muttered to himself as he tugged his bangs from his eyes.

“Now I wouldn’t do that if I were you.  Uncle will not be pleased,” a smug, smiling voice spoke from his right. 

“I do believe my dear brother is right Mr. Boggins.  Uncle will be very angry with you and I for one do not want to witness that,” spoke another, laughter tilting his tone. 

Bilbo’s breath caught in his chest as tears began to fall quietly down his cheeks.  His blue eyes widened as he took the sight of them in.  His dwarfs, his two wonderful boys stood before him with their wide grins and smiling eyes.  They looked the same as the day they showed up at his door, golden and chocolate manes dancing as they executed perfect bows.

“Fili and Kili, at your service.”

They did not have time to completely straighten before a body launched against them.  The Heirs of Durin, his wonderful boys, swept him up in their arms and held him close, their laughter echoing across the chamber around them.

“Oh my boys…my dear, dear boys…how I have missed you…”

 

 It was not long into their reunion that they were joined by 10 other dwarfs.  By the time hugs were shared and tears were shed Bilbo was quite beside himself.  His family was returned to him after so many years of loneliness and struggle.  His heart was near to bursting but something was not right; something was missing.  His eyes searched his dwarf’s faces, a question on his tongue.  As he settled on Balin the elder dwarf smiled gently and nodded towards the shadows lining the chamber.  Bilbo turned slowly, his movements unsteady as his heart clenched in his chest.  A tall dwarf stepped from the darkness, his crystal blue eyes blazing.  

He looked the same; dear Yavanna was he a sight for sore eyes.  His dark hair was stripped of the grey he had in life but still pulled back in his traditional plaits.  The courting braid was still as perfect as the day Bilbo had braided it.  He was not adorned in the king's armor he was buried in but instead the traveling clothes and furs he had used in their long journey.  It was him…whole and complete…so different from the day they had parted.

“Now Master Burglar, what is this I hear about you cutting your hair?  You know how much I enjoy seeing it in this firelight and even now it is only just barely long enough to braid.”

At this Bilbo flew across the chambers and into the waiting arms of the dwarf he had lost so long ago.  As he was clutched close in those arms, long strengthened by battle and forge work, his eyes slipped closed.  At long last he could rest, for his heart was finally returned to him…safe, right where it belonged.

“Thorin…how I’ve missed you…”

“As I you my One…my Bilbo…”

 

THE END

 

P.S. And just for shits and giggles:

“Well well dear Brother of mine…so this the hobbit I’ve heard so much about…”

“Dis?!”

“Mother?!”

“Well now, let me see him.  We have SOOOOO much to talk about.”

Fili, Kili, and Thorin grab Bilbo’s arms and hands and jerk him down the hallway.  Bilbo struggles to keep up with their pace as he glances behind him to sneak a glimpse of the female dwarf that has plowed through his dwarfs and was catching up to them rather quickly.

“For the love of Mahal Halfling, pick up the pace!”

“Thorin, who is that?”

“No time for that, just run!”

So much for happy reunions...but he wouldn't have it any other way.  After all, Death is just another adventure.

 

     


End file.
